After more than a week off from MLS play for each team, Philadelphia Union return to Talen Energy Stadium to take on Real Salt Lake Sunday, July 31 at 7 p.m.
The Union are looking to bounce back in a major way after a difficult loss to Montreal Impact on the road last weekend. When it comes to rebounding after a tough performance, Philadelphia has been phenomenal this season. The Union have managed to go (5-1-0) after a loss thus far, with the lone stumble coming on the road.
“We’ll need to continue to do more of the same like we did in the first half of the year,” Curtin said during his weekly press conference. “We know when we’ve played good and we know when we’ve played bad. I think we’re a pretty honest group. There’s been some special moments this year – some really positive results, some really good games. But, there’s also been some halves that have been bad. Going back to Montreal, a game where we say that’s not good enough and we’re disappointed with it. I know our guys will respond this weekend.”
With the MLS All-Star break this week, both teams will head into Sunday night after more than a week off from regular season play. For a club that had to compete 11 times in 39 days, the eight-day hiatus could not have come at a better time for the Union.
“We look forward to a new challenge, and I know my guys will bounce back against Salt Lake in this building,” Curtin said. “They’re itching to get back on the field, so you saw that today in training after we gave them a day off to survive what has been a tough stretch.”
Although returning to form this weekend won’t be an easy task for the home team. The Union have a tough history with Salt Lake that dates all the way back to Philadelphia’s inaugural season in 2010. Not only have the Union tied their last four-consecutive matches against RSL, they’ve never managed to defeat Salt Like a single time in franchise history either.
“Salt Lake is a very good team, a very dangerous team, especially attacking,” Curtin said. “They’ll [RSL] come in here with a bit of a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. We know we’ll have a tough task. They are a very good team, well coached, organized. The scary thing is, they can break out. That’s what we have to prevent. They have experience, they have dynamic players. You talk about [Joao] Plata, [Kyle] Beckerman, [Javier] Morales – it’s going to be a real challenge to neutralize them.”
Despite this renowned talent, Real Salt Lake has been in a bit of a slide as of late. Salt Lake (8-6-7, 31 points) hasn’t won a game in over a month, finishing with a meager (0-2-4) record since their 2-1 victory over New York Red Bulls in June.
Philadelphia has also been an absolute force when playing with the home-field advantage of Talen Energy Stadium this year. This may spell trouble for an RSL defense that has conceded 23 of the team’s 31 total goals allowed on the road this season.
“Our guys tend to have a lot more life in our stadium and get to feed off the crowd,” Curtin said. “We’ll have to do a good job of pressing them and making them uncomfortable because if you do a give them time and space – [Juan Manuel] Burrito Martinez, guys like that can pick you apart. We’ll have to be on our A-game.”
